Rock and Roll

I am sad. My little baby, Sammy, has officially embarked on a new chapter in life. Last week he broke away from training wheels. Conner didn't ride a 2 wheeler until he was at least 6 1/2. Ben was a little younger than that, but Sam is the youngest of the three to remove the safety net of the training wheels and ride free.

Taylor went on a run with Conner and Ben the other night, so Sam and I went out on a venture to perfect his abilities on a bike. We spent about an hour doing the same things on the sidewalk...me giving him a push, him riding for a while, him crashing, then standing up and starting all over again. After the hour was up(and it REALLY was an hour), he looked at me and said something I won't forget...EVER!!! He said, "Mommy, rock and roll!" And with that said, he got on his bike, balanced himself, and he was off without a push from mommy. I stood there for a moment, taking it all in. It slowly overcame me. "It" was the fact that although he's only 4 and 1/2, these moments and times are slowly slipping away. I wasn't going to have a first word, first crawl or walk, first preschool day, first pee/poop on the potty, etc. anymore. And yes, this was the last time I gave my little one a push to get him started on his bike. Emotion swept in and I became very sad.

Luckily the Lord knows these things. He feels our hurts and our joys. He knows. He allows for moments like these to remind us how precious and valuable children are. As it says in Psalm 127:4---"Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth"

My little guys are invaluable and truly rewards from Christ. And when the fatigue sets in and each day ends, I don't want them to know how tired mommy is or how frustrating her day was. I want them to know how precious and amazing they are...how truly loved they are and will always be. I don't want to say I am doing my best...I want to live it and show them my best!

Hermie, the hermit crab

Taylor and I thought it would be fun to let the boys each pick out a hermit crab while we were on vacation in Destin. Sam and Ben promised to be very responsible about feeding and caring for their crabs. They also promised to get the crabs out of their cages for a little exercise everyday. The morning after we purchased our new family pets, Ben went to get Hermie(his hermit crab) out for a little play time. He walked into the kitchen and I knew something was wrong.

Ben: "Mommy, Hermie died."

Mommy: "Oh no, Ben. What Happened? How do you know it's dead?"

Ben: "It's legs and arms fell off its body."

Mommy: (Trying hard not to laugh) "Let me see!"

Ben: "Do you think it's because I dropped it on the floor yesterday in its cage?"

Mommy: "You dropped it on the floor yesterday?"

Ben: "Yeah, right on the floor. The whole cage."

Mommy: "Hmmm...I'm not sure..."

Lesson learned: Don't drop your new pet hermit crab on the floor in its cage. Or better yet, if you have a 7 year old boy at home, don't buy a hermit crab! As you can tell from the picture, Hermie passed away...tragically.

Catch my breath!!

Okay...so it's been about two months since I last posted. Yikes!!! Busyness has officially struck the family. I am really missing the long days of summer, but thankful to have a routine now. This pic is from our vacation in Destin with my side of the family. We rented a house on the beach and had a blast. The kids enjoyed spending time with their cousins, swimming in the pool all day, eating Mom-Mom's yummy snacks, and sleeping in. I enjoyed getting some running in with Taylor, my dad, and my sister. On one run, Jen and I were able to reminisce back to the days of high school ...we had a few laughs!!! It was really nice. My sister has been a runner since high school and my dad has been a runner from the time I was very small. They are both my inspirations to stay motivated, disciplined, and active. I will never forget watching my dad finish the Flying Pig Marathon here in Cincinnati a whole hour and a half ahead of two girls I went to high school with. I told him that was quite amazing, but he just grinned and humbly didn't comment. (On a side note as I write this, there's some yelling going on with the boys downstairs. It's not unusual at our house...boys just have an innate ability to compete with each other and people say I will miss hearing this one day. Hmmm, let me think about this one...I don't think so!) I will miss the fun vacation days with the fam, though.
We did have quite an intersting first night in Destin that I just have to write about. We all got settled, unloaded the cars, and headed out to grab a bite to eat. We went to Friday's b/c of all the reasons it's a family friendly place...kids menu, yummy desserts, etc. We got our seats and were looking over the menu when Tyler started squealing. Tyler is my 9-month old nephew who is cute as a button, easy, loveable, cuddly, fun, smiley, and charismatic. He is NOT high-maintenance and so much fun to have around. Let me just say again that he is 9months old...a baby by definition and looks, of course. Low and behold, there was a family of four across the way from us. It looked like three generations of women: the oldest in her 80's maybe, her daugher(maybe 60's), and another daugher(early 30's). Then there was the husband of the youngest woman with them. We began receiving not-so-nice stares from the 60 year old woman immediately, then followed by the 30 year old. Tyler continued testing his lungs with squeals here and there...nothing abnormal from a 9-month old. Jennifer noticed the irritated looks from these women way before I did. Tyler continued with the "happy" squeals about every 3 minutes or so. We laughed, ordered our food and were in some conversation when the 30 year old proceeds to tell Jennifer a few things on her mind. Let me preface with the fact that this is all over a 9 month old baby. Get ready and here goes:
30 year old woman: "You need to get some parenting help!"
Jennifer: "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but he's 9 months old."
60 year old woman: "Yeah, you need to control your kid!"
Me: "Excuse me, but he's a baby."
30 year old woman: "Well, don't come to a restaurant if you can't keep your kid quiet!"
Me: "What is she supposed to do? Put a muzzle on him? He's a baby. He has no understanding of how to be quiet in a restaurant."
30 year old woman: "I have seen babies and they don't act like THAT!"
Me thinking to myself...if you knew anything about babies you wouldn't make ignorant comments like this. Both of these women continued their huffing and puffing until they left...and we were very happy to send them on their way!! Needless to say, it made for an uncomfortable night. But the frustrating thing is that there are people who DO exist like this in the world. It's so unbelieveably frustrating. Jennifer had a rush of emotion and shed a few tears b/c people like that are so hurtful.
We all had to laugh and were grateful for family and other great people who understand the challenges of raising children in this crazy world. So next time you are at a restaurant suited for children and find yourself getting frustrated with the noises the baby or toddler are making next to your table, try hard to not be nasty with them. And for the people who have grown kids out there, don't forget what it was like to have little ones at home. Maybe even encourage the young family with a quick smile or a kind word. You will reap a reward some day!!!